Saturday, April 10, 2010

Clyburn likens new health care law to rights act

Saturday, April 10, 2010

COLUMBIA -- U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Friday that the new health care law is the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century because it ends discrimination of individuals with chronic and catastrophic illnesses.

The S.C. Democrat made the comparison before about 400 people attending the University of South Carolina's third annual series on health care disparities, a lecture that bears Clyburn's name.

As with the Civil Rights Act, which gave black Americans equal rights, Clyburn said Congress will need to revisit the health care law and make changes over the years. The law will become fully effective in 2014, when 32 million more Americans, including about 500,000 South Carolinians, receive health insurance, writes Yvonne Wenger for the Post & Courier.